1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to heat exchangers. More specifically, the present invention relates to heat exchanger fins.
2. Background Information
Heat exchangers are used in many types of industries. For example, heat exchangers with louvered fins are in common usage in the automobile industry, in particular, in many air-liquid, air-refrigerant, and air—air heat exchangers. To provide the required heat transfer capability in these applications, the heat exchangers are typically large and therefore do not lend themselves to compact packaging. Moreover, their large size makes them expensive to fabricate.
While these large heat exchangers work sufficiently well for their intended purposes, for cost cutting and compact packaging reasons, original equipment manufacturers are now demanding miniaturized heat exchangers. Unfortunately, the smaller heat exchangers are less efficient than their larger counterparts and therefore do not meet the heat transfer requirements.
From the above, it is seen that there exists a need for an improved heat exchanger with enhanced heat transfer capabilities that can be provided in a compact package.